Parallels
by Lady Jaye1
Summary: One shot. A curious Diana wonders at the similarities between Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis.


_**Disclaimer**: If I owned or was any way involved with DCAU, do you think I would be writing fanfiction?_

_Green Arrow: Well, technically you could…  
Question: Who's to say that the current writers don't…  
Huntress: Could you please write the story? I don't need to listen to a conspiracy theory on how the DCAU people are also secret fanfiction writers who steal…  
Question: It's not a conspiracy! It's fact!  
Shining Knight: What is this Slash Fiction that so many of these people speak of?  
Author: No! Sir Justin! Don't look….  
Shining Knight: Blasphemy!  
Vigilante: Don't look at me…she tried to warn you.  
Green Arrow: Hey! I just found a lemon fic! And Canary's in it!  
Author: Er…I think I'll write the story now._

_(This is not meant to be offensive to those who enjoy slash fic. I know there are people who like that, but it's just not my thing. Although…how would Shining Knight react if he ever read slash?_

**Parallels**

Bruce Wayne_ plus_ Wallace West_ plus_ Oliver Queen (thrown into a blender)_ equals_ (more or less) Terrence McGinnis.

That's how it had been explained to Diana anyway.

She still remembered the first time that she had met the young man. Although Diana had been happy that Bruce was no longer locking himself in his mansion, she couldn't help but be skeptical of the new Batman.

After all, in her mind, Bruce Wayne always_ was_ and always _would_ be Batman.

She had been a little hard on Terry at first.

To his credit, he had_ glared_ at her and had icily 'explained' that he wasn't Bruce Wayne, but that he **WAS** Batman.

Diana had warmed up to the teenager after that. She could see why Bruce liked him. They were very much alike.

Maybe too much.

"Terry," Bruce said.

"Bruce," Terry answered back.

Bruce glared.

Terry glared.

Diana smirked.

The Amazon sipped on her tea as she watched the exchange with (not so hidden) amusement. The two males were quarreling again, although the topic of their disagreement was currently unknown to her. Their arguments could range anywhere from Terry's interpretation of 'Batman' to the color of Terry's shirt.

It was true, actually. Terry had found a Superman shirt that he had worn a few weeks ago to annoy Bruce.

Bruce, of course, had retaliated in his own way.

He had subscribed the teenager to one Clark's many fanclubs…resulting in Terry being bombarded by various, unwanted Superman memorabilia.

Terry and Bruce continued to glare at each other. Their identical blue eyes narrowed to the exact same degree as they dared the other to give up first.

"What are they fighting about now?" Clark asked. Diana shrugged her shoulders. Clark Kent cast a glance at the two Batmans before deciding he didn't want to be in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation.

The Kryptonian scurried out of the Watchtower conference room.

Diana sipped serenely on her tea.

Terry and Bruce had now decided to try to ignore the other. Which would last, in her calculations, less than thirty seconds.

_They act so much alike._

A smile tugged at Diana's lips. It was true. While Terry was definitely more social (and talkative) than Bruce, they shared many of the same characteristics.

Number one being that they were both equally stubborn.

"The answer is no, McGinnis," Bruce finally said.

"Would you lighten up?" Terry shot back. "It's not like I'm asking you to commit suicide."

"Close enough," Bruce answered.

Terry smirked.

Diana raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Bruce glared.

_They look so much alike._

Diana studied the two men thoughtfully. It was true that both Dick and Tim had also possessed black hair and blue eyes. But this was different. Terry actually _looked_ like a younger Bruce.

Wally had dubbed them 'Me' and 'Mini-Me'. She didn't get the reference other than it was from some movie.

The Amazon felt her eyes narrow slightly as she looked, _really_ looked at Terry. Bruce's face had been tempered by age, but she could still see the similarities. Same chin. Same cheek bones. Same hair and eyes. Same smirk. Same glare.

The nose was slightly smaller though. Terry's voice was also considerably louder. His temper was shorter.

Terry also smiled more.

"No," Bruce stated, this time more emphatically.

"No what?" Terry asked innocently.

Bruce glared.

Diana raised her eyebrow again. Just what was Terry trying to get Bruce to do?

Terry snickered then, causing a small smile to break open on Diana's face.

Terry didn't always act like Bruce though, she remembered. As someone had told her before, Terry also shared some…fine…attributes with both Oliver Queen and Wally West. Like Wally, he loved to talk.

Terry McGinnis also had the heart of a practical joker. Diana knew that it must drive Bruce insane. Which also, coincidentally, must be why the young man got along so well with the aging Scarlet Speedster and the Emerald Archer.

Was it yesterday that he had taken (stolen) some of J'onn's Oreos? (Then he had blamed it on Rex Stewart.)

"McGinnis!" Bruce said sharply. A flash of irritation went through his normally impassive eyes. Diana held back a snicker.

Terry seemed to be one of those rare individuals who could actually get a (slight) emotional reaction out of Bruce Wayne.

That was the second reason that Diana had warmed up to Terry. Even Dick and Tim couldn't accomplish that feat.

Bruce glared warningly at Terry. Any sane person (in fact, most people) would have and _have_ run from that same glare. (Including Clark Kent.)

Terry laughed.

He actually laughed at Bruce!

The list of people who weren't affected by that glare was very small. The list of people who would actually laugh at Bruce Wayne while receiving that glare was almost zero.

That was the third reason that Diana liked Terry.

The doors swished open as two new individuals entered.

"Again?" Rex Stewart asked. The half-Thanagarian cast his eyes over to the two men at the table.

Terry and Bruce had returned to glaring at each other.

"You'd think they would learn that glaring at the other doesn't work," Kai-ro observed. As if on cue, both Terry and Bruce turned to glare icily at the intruders.

Warhawk and the young Green Lantern hastily exited the said conference room.

Diana sipped serenely on her tea.

The Amazon knew better than to be fooled by their constant arguments. At first, Diana had been surprised at their odd relationship. Dick and Tim had both had very sharp differences with Bruce, but they had never argued like this.

That's because that underneath it all, Diana knew that both Terry and Bruce enjoyed the arguments. Anyone else might miss it, but the Amazon could see it clearly.

The insults. The bantering. The jokes…yes, even jokes. Terry seemed to bring out a more mischievous edge in Bruce. They argued as equals. They argued as two people who completely understood the other and knew exactly what buttons to push without going over the edge.

Dick and Tim had never achieved that level of understanding with Bruce.

"At it again, huh?" another voice asked. Diana smiled as Barbara Gordon pulled out a chair and sat next to her. This was another result of Terry's new position as Batman. Barbara Gordon had, to the surprise of many people, begun to take a more active interest in League business again.

"Just like father and son," Barbara observed dryly.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that they were," Diana replied.

After another minute, the Bruce and Terry battle finally began to die down. As usual, there appeared to be no apparent winner. Bruce usually had the advantage of experience and higher intelligence on his side, but Terry was no idiot either and his Wally-like personality traits would usually manage to even it out.

"What was that all about?" Diana finally asked them. Bruce and Terry exchanged a look.

"Nothing," Terry answered. Bruce gave a slight nod of agreement.

"Nothing?" Diana asked dryly. Barbara smirked to herself.

"Nothing," Bruce answered.

"Nothing?" Barbara asked. Terry and Bruce both cast the two women _identical_ looks.

"That's just too bad," Diana said slyly. "And here I was going to ask J'onn to take a peak…"

Alarmed looks crossed their faces.

Diana laughed at them.

…………………………………………………

_So what exactly were Bruce and Terry fighting about? The world will never know. (Use your imagination…in other words, I don't know.)_

_My other stories are on a brief hiatus for about two or three more weeks. I actually didn't have time to write this (which means I'm going to pay for it.) I hope this story worked out though. I wanted to write something with Diana and I enjoy the Bruce/Terry relationship._

_I figured that people would be noticing the similarities between them long before "Epilogue". Diana would probably be one of the first._


End file.
